Russia is burning off large amounts, an estimated $10 million natural gas as Europe’s energy costs skyrocket.

According to experts, the gas from the plant, near the border with Finland, would previously have been exported to Germany. Germany’s ambassador to the UK revealed that Russia was burning the gas because they couldn’t sell it elsewhere.

Supplies through the pipeline have been curtailed since mid-July, with the Russians blaming technical issues for the restriction. However, Germany insists it was purely a political move following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Since June this year, researchers have noted a significant increase in heat emanating from the facility at Portovaya, North-West of St Petersburg. The heat is thought to be from gas flaring, the burning of natural gas.

Scientists on the other hand are concerned about the large volumes of carbon dioxide and soot it is creating, which could exacerbate the melting of Arctic ice. Analysis by Rystad Energy indicates that around 4.34 million cubic metres of gas are being burned by the flare every day.

The first signs that something was awry came from Finnish citizens over the nearby border who spotted a large flame on the horizon earlier this summer. While burning off gas is common at processing plants as it is normally done for technical or safety reasons, the scale of this burn has confounded experts.

Experts worry over Russia’s emissions

Dr Jessica McCarty, an expert on satellite data from Miami University in Ohio, stated that she has “never seen an LNG plant flare so much”.

“Starting around June, we saw this huge peak, and it just didn’t go away. It’s stayed very anomalously high.”
Dr Jessica McCarty

Similarly, German ambassador to the UK, Miguel Berger, revealed that European efforts to reduce reliance on Russian gas were “having a strong effect on the Russian economy”. He explained that they don’t have other places where they can sell their gas, so they have to burn it.

Mark Davis, CEO of Capterio, a company that is involved in finding solutions to gas flaring noted that flaring is not accidental and is more likely a deliberate decision made for operational reasons. He stated that “operators often are very hesitant to actually shut down facilities for fear that they may be technically difficult or costly to start up again”, and it’s probably the case with Russia.

Others believe that there could be technical challenges in dealing with the large volumes of gas that were being supplied to the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

It is argued that Russian Energy Company Gazprom may have intended to use that gas to make LNG at the new plant, but may have had problems handling it and the safest option is to flare it off. It could also be the result of Europe’s trade embargo with Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Esa Vakkilainen, an energy engineering professor from Finland’s LUT University, highlighted that this kind of long-term flaring may mean that they are missing some equipment. As such, due to the “trade embargo with Russia, they are not able to make the high-quality valves needed in oil and gas” processing.